snowangel

You are more than welcome to shovel mine anytime. I'll even feed you larb or stew or braised whatever.

I have what is virtually the same unit as Jason, except mine is older and has dials (husband doesn't like electronic keypads). It is wonderful. Also serves as a mini-oven. Great for not only toast but small baking jobs when you don't want to spend what it costs to heat an entire oven for a couple of potatoes. Or during the summer. Quick to heat, quick to cool. Great toast. But for those toast-n-serve bags, the cheapo Target is the best (I got mine on sale for $4.97!). It too makes great toast.

OK. So you go from being our LC hypnotist to the hostest with the mostest. I figured just getting the leg and doing it was enough. Little did I know.

Growing in pots. It works. Use way bigger pots than you think. Those cute little pots on the window sill grow cute little plants. Fine for some herbs, but if you want the basil shrubs I had last year, you need big pots. The kind you put on the floor. Second. Pots require a lot of water. Not only do you lose moisture from the top of the soil, but from the sides as well. Third. If you expect a nice rain, put the pots outside. No amount of tap water will equate to a good rain soak.

It might be good if a moderator would merge this thread with the Gardening, the thread thread. That is the thread to go to. Discusses successes, failures, favorites. As an aside, I have my gardening books and seed catalogues right on my nightstand and dream every night about the coming season, which today, seems awfully far away. And, I sure wish everyone who is a gardener and is posting would post their location (thanks, jgm, for doing so!). Moderator's Note: Threads have been merged.

For recipes that are not in a cookbook, I use a recipe file. 3x5 cards. Those I cut out of the newspaper or periodicals, I don't mount them on an index card. I sort them by category -- appetizers, pasta, etc. Yes, I do cut recipes out of my magazines, preferring to be able to access them easily rather than stockpile magazines (I'm not a saver; I'm a pitcher). I did laminate the recipes written in spidery fountain pen (that stuff really runs when it gets wet) from my great grandmother. Cookbooks? They are not sacred and seem to take on a different meaning when I make all sorts of notations. I received the new Gourmet cookbook for Xmas. I hate (meaning can't see) the yellow titles. So, for the recipes I've made, not only have I made notes (make this again, very good, ixnay (sp?) on this one, I also write over the yellow with a black ballpoint pen. I love my splattered cookbooks. The ability to find that recipe in a cookbook by the way the pages of that recipe are someone rippled. I gave a copy of a favorite cookbook to a friend for Xmas, and made all sorts of notes all over it. I knew she'd love the cookbook, and she loved it all the more for all the notes I made. This is my system. It works for me. And that's what matters. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I made stock last week when it was subzero. Chilled quickly on the deck! Poured the stock into these really big, wide tupperware containers I have. They froze within a couple of hours. Used a grapefruit spoon to scrape off the fat. Gotta love my outdoor fridge!

Looks like we head way sub zero tomorrow night. Suggestions?

Soup as a healing agent. We have all (all five of us) been sick with colds. To the point of two big boxes of Puffs (at least) every day since Xmas night. So, I looked forward to today. The kids back in school, Paul at work, me at home alone. Alas and alak, it was to be me at home with three sick kids, a sick me, and Paul at work (accountant, year end or he'd have been home too). So, I decide to get busy. I had figured pasta for dinner tonight. When I opened the freezer, several chicken carcases (some roasted, some raw) almost crushed my foot. Into a pot with water. To a simmer. Skim, blow nose, skim. (wash hands in between). Hours later, it is looking good, thanks the addition of a few chicken feet. Some onions, some celery, sauteed (I'm not a carrot fan unless they are raw). Pull those odd pieces of chicken (a couple of thighs here, a leg there). Add to pot. Fish them out when done. Broth is done. Strain. Add those odd veg from the bin and the New Year's Eve tray to soup. And the meat from that odd thigh and leg. Oh, plus a boneless beast that has somehow made its way to my freezer. That 1/3 cup of each of this pasta and that pasta that is hanging around. Some parsley. A bit of leftover cilantro. It was yummy. I spiked heavily with hot pepper condiment, so by the end of the meal, everyone was "Puffing" heavily. Each of the kids had a long hot tub after this meal, so hopefully, everyone is working this out of the systems. Hot peppers in soup when one has a cold is a good thing. Hopefully a good enough thing that everyone will feel like going to school and work tomorrow.

You should probably talk to chrisamarualt on the recent thread about an egullet cookoff where they are doing cassoulet. chris made sausages. Should you choose to smoke them, its time for Klink to add something.

That skimming every few minutes really interfers with my knitting projects. Lift the pot? First, scoop as much liquid as you can through a strainer set over another big pot (if you don't have one, you'll be shopping early tomorrow). Then, that's where Don and Ryan come into the picture. Ryan on stepstool, Don standing, they lift and SLOWLY pour the stuff (so it doesn't splatter everywhere) into the strainer set over another large pot. My kids and Paul no longer say anything when I say "time to tip the pot." Bet you didn't know you needed yet another big pot did you, Marlene?

Reminds me to stop at Asian market which always has odd pieces of bones with meat and marrow as well as other goodies, as pennies on the dollar.

Is the difficulty in getting bones due to the fact that so many supermarkets and butcher shops get their meat cryovac'ed? Or, am I a dinosaur for making my own stock? My local butcher loves me. When the stuff gets to the "sell by" date, he calls me and gives me a deal. fifi, oxtails here at the supermarket are $4.99/lb. I don't think so, but when they are at their date, they'll deal.

Twas Cream of Wheat. Anyone else remember the song? Hot, with icy cold cream or half and half, and a bare sprinkle of brown sugar or small dollop of maple syrup. I still make it. I also like oatmeal (Quaker or steel cut). I can't stand the instant stuff. The instant COW is especially nasty. Don't do Malt-O-Meal. I went to college in Northfield, MN (home of Malt-O-Meal, and if the wind was right, that "scent" wafting from the plant to the college was well, suffice to say, no way.

Marie-Louise did say it all. I care a tremendous amount our state, and want the future generations of our family to enjoy our wonderful Cabin and environs in the same pristine state. And, I love nothing more than supporting our local farmers. That's easier said than done on the produce front in January. I can't swear that the meat in our freezer is organic, but it is from Southern MN, and I know the farmers who raised it. Further to this, I avoid processed food as much as possible because I don't think my kids need it. I have a child with disabilities (freak of nature genetics) who takes a tremendous amount of neurological medication every day to control seizures, and I just don't think she, or any of the other kids need any more chemicals in them. They need good, clean food. And, once you've drank that wonderful Cedar Summit Farms organic milk we drink at home, the supermarket stuff just doesn't cut it.

My chest is puffed up with pride! I gave larb lessons to several on New Year's Eve at our party.

In the first filling with cabbage, did you pre-salt the greens, let them sit, and then squeeze out all of the liquid? And, when I use the bean thread noodles in egg rolls, I slightly "undercook" them. I also keep liquid seasons to a minimum. If using soy, use the dark/thick soy. I compensate by upping the "dry" seasonings.

Don't think anyone's mentioned posole. Reminder to make this one at least one day in advance of consuming.

Marlene, I have seen stockpots that look exactly like Chefmate (and priced similarly) at several other places that are like Target. Look around at a discount place. My Chefmate is almost as pretty as an All Clad. But you save so much money that you can justify buying other things!

They neglected two questions which have come to mind recently when dining at someone else's house: 1. Does one eat ribs with a knife and fork or with one's hands? Does one lick one's fingers afterwards? (everyone ate them with hands, and did lick fingers) 2. What does one do when one's child upchucks at the host's table? (After running for the roll of paper towels, I excused child and myself.) Sort of says it all for this time in my life...

We head to New Ulm, MN for New Year's Eve. I have been instructed that my task is to give larb-making lessons. Larb converts. Gotta love them.

This is a most beguiling blog. For the record, I lived in Thailand from 1966 to 1975 (not military). Cambodia was off limits at this time. Ah, that food. Almost anywhere in SE Asia. As an aside, I used to spend NY Eve's in Phuket before Phuket was PHUKET. At that time, there were no Hilton's, no Shetatons, no spas, no inifinity pools. Just a small town, good food (especially if you spoke Thai), and some spectacular scuba diving. It was a 2-day drive from Bangkok; no one flew into Phuket. But then again, that was before the Bangkok of then was the Bangkok of now. Blog on! (reminder to self. Need to make som tam)

So, how do I figure out what kind of ducks my local asian market is selling?

My father is a former butcher, and the small shop he worked in regularly dry-aged beef. Leaving WHOLE cuts of beef in the fridge -- in the coldest spot in a fridge 40 (F) or under is safe. Further, my dad said that you would probably not achieve the same effect in your home fridge as a professional will because their dry-aging locker is humidity controlled. My dad said he would not hesitate to leave a whole piece of meat (NOT chopped) for a couple or three weeks. He remembers that when they dry-aged at the meat market, they sometimes went as long as 6 weeks, scraping mold off as necessary. He said something to the effect that "dry aging is controlled rotting."

These are good suggestions. Yes to the slow cooker. I filled the freezer with prepared food for after Diana was born, and found that what I thought I wanted wasn't what what I necessarily wanted, so I made sure the pantry and freezer were full of ingredients for the next two. Stock. Meat. Canned and frozen vegetables. Pasta. Rice. And, when people asked if there was something they could do, I'd send them to the market for fresh stuff. If you can get produce and milk, etc. delivered, do it! But, assuming you are going to be gone for a portion of every day, I'd worry more about keeping stocked up on things that will sustain her when she's alone with the baby. Things that are easy to eat with one hand. Things that won't burn the baby if she's eating while feeding the baby, or cajoling the little one. And, please don't call her Blimp Girl, especially after baby arrives and the hormones go wacko. Good luck! A wonderful adventure.